Film matching apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for matching motion picture film is constructed with individual transport means for the edited work film, the original film, and black leader film. Clutches are operable to couple selected ones of the transport means for coordinated movement of two or three of the film strips as required. Magnified images of selected portions of the films appear at a viewing station, which also contains footage and edge number counters for the work and original films, respectively. When a desired scene is being taken from the camera original, an equal length of black leader film is also cut. Both are fed to a holding container that is constructed with spiral guide grooves to coil these films, with adjacent coils being spaced from each other.

United States Patent Misch [5 4] FILM MATCHING APPARATUS [72] Inventor:Michael Misch, East Mount Airy Road,

Croton on Hudson, NY. 10520 [22] Filed: Nov. 17, 1970 [21] App1.No.:90,386

[52] US. Cl ..352/129, 352/166,?152/172 [51] Int. Cl. ..G03b 21/00 [58]Field ofSearch ..352/l29,166,l70,171,172, 352/85, 87, 59, 60, 133

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,921,469 8/1933 Kuhn et a1...352/l29 3,002,703 10/1961 Hinchman ..352/l29 UX 3,476,470 11/1969Dejoux ..352/129 X [15] 3,656,843 Apr. 18, 1972 Primary ExaminerJohn M.Horan Assistant Examiner-Alan A. Mathews Attorney-Ostrolenk, Faber, Gerb& Soffen [5 7] ABSTRACT Apparatus for matching motion picture film isconstructed with individual transport means for the edited work film,the original film, and black leader film. Clutches are operable tocouple selected ones of the transport means for coordinated movement oftwo or three of the film strips as required. Magnified images ofselected portions of the films appear at a viewing station, which alsocontains footage and edge number counters for the work and originalfilms, respectively.

When a desired scene is being taken from the camera original, an equallength of black leader film is also cut. Both are fed to a holdingcontainer that is constructed with spiral guide grooves to coil thesefilms, with adjacent coils being spaced from each other.

7 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR 18 m2 SHEET 10F 2 m NM \M R? Wog X n D FILM MATCHING APPARATUS In the production of motion pictures,because of retakes, faulty exposure, etc., footage far in excess of therequired footage making up the finish film is shot and the excess filmis eliminated during an editing process. Typically, the ratio of filmshot to film used for the finished motion picture is from 3:1 to :1 andat times is much higher. Scenes taken in random sequence are edited inproper sequence, so that the finished film contains a coherentpresentation.

Not only are the individual scenes of original film shot in randomsequence, but many rolls of camera original film are used and on anygiven roll the scene sequence differs fromthe sequence in the finishedfilm. Thus, the job of film editing requires extensive film handling,with the editor being required to examine and re-examine all of thefootage shot.

Editing is carried on with so-called dailies or rushes, which areduplicate copies of the camera original films. From these dailies orrushes the editor assembles a work print. After editing of the workprint has been completed, a matching process takes place during whichall scenes of the dailies or rushes used to compose the edited workprint are matched to identi-' cal portions of original film. It isgenerally accepted practice when working with 16 mm film to connect theselected portions or scenes of original film together to form two rollsof film (so-called A and B rolls), each containing alternate scenes ofthe edited film, spaced by a so-called black leader. That is, the blackleader connecting scenes 3 and 5 on one roll is the length of scene 4 onthe other roll. The two rolls of original film with scenes connected byblack leaders are printed in apparatus well known to the art to producea single film.

Heretofore, film matching operations have been carried out by hand. Thefilm matcher or negative matcher is able to identify the particularscenes of the camera original with corresponding scenes of the editedwork print by means of edge numbers or marginal codes imprinted on theoriginal film by the manufacturer and reproduced in the laboratory onthe work film when the picture information is placed thereon. Suchindicia include code marking (such as J l/24 00016) to identify aparticular film roll and location thereon. These code markings arespaced apart by 16, or 40 frames depending upon the manufacture rawstock. Typically, 16 mm film is available in roll lengths of 100, 400,800 and l,000 feet, and is provided with one sprocket hole per frame,with each foot containing 40 frames.

The instant invention is concerned with apparatus which eliminates'aconsiderable portion of manual film handling required by prior arttechniques, and otherwise speeds up the film matching operation.

Briefly, apparatus in accordance with the instant invention provideindependent means for transporting the edited work film, the originalfilm, and black leader. Clutch means are provided to selectively operatetwo or three of the transport means in unison, with those transportmeans being operated in unison delivering equal lengths of film. Thetransport means for the work film and the transport means for theoriginal film are tied to individual counters. The counter for theoriginal film roll provides a running record of the edge or code numberson the original film roll that are visible at its viewing station. Thoseportions of the work and original films which are viewable at theviewing station are placed adjacent one another to facilitate alignment.When the so-called A and B rolls previously described are to be made up,optionally a double compartmented container may be used to receive aselected scene from the original film and at the same time receive anidentical length of black leader. Opposed walls in each compartment areprovided with aligned spiral grooves which receive the edges of the filmand guide the film into coiled form without causing the film layers torub against one another. Each of these containers is marked with thenumber of the particular scene contained therein, and is stored on arack until the time when the scene sequences are spliced together.

Accordingly, a primary object of the instant invention is to providenovel apparatus for film matching to produce a finished motion picturefilm.

Another object is to provide apparatus of this type which reduces thetime required for film matching, and substantially reduces thelikelihood that the original film will be damaged.

Still another object is to provide apparatus of this type, in whichthere is a viewing station at which the original and work films mayreadily be viewed, thereby facilitating matching of scenes in theoriginal film with scenes on the edited work film.

These objects as well as other objects of this invention will becomereadily apparent after reading the following description of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view, in schematic form, of apparatus constructed inaccordance with teachings of the instant invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the viewing station, looking in thedirection of arrows 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of the mirror and lens system for obtainingmagnified projections at the viewing station of HG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a length of film.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of a double compartment holding container forreceiving and storing a scene length of original film and acorresponding length of black leader.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section of the container of FIG.5.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of automatic splicing apparatus which may beincorporated in the film matching apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a cross-section taken through line 8-8 of FIG. 7, looking inthe direction of arrows 8-8.

FIG. 9 is an end view of the ram-cutter, looking in the direction ofarrows 99 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is an elevation view of film having a splice applied thereto bythe apparatus of FIGS. 7-9.

FIG. 11 is an elevation view showing a fragmentary section of the tapeafter the splicing piece of FIG. 10 is cut therefrom.

Now referring to the figures. Film matching apparatus 10 of FIG. 1includes reels l1, l2, keyed to shafts 13, 14 respectively. Edited workfilm or print 15 travels between reels ll, 12 in a path defined by idlerrolls 16, 23, I7 and cooperating apertured linear guides 18, 19, as wellas sprocket 21, whose teeth enter film sprocket holes 22a, 22b, 22c etc.(FIG. 4). Appropriate take-up means, well known to the art, act onshafts 13, 14 to prevent sa g of work film 15 in the region betweenreels 1], 12. The torques exerted by the take-up means acting on shafts13, 14 are insufficient to rotate sprocket shaft 26.

Motor 101, operated by push-button control 102, drives shaft 13counterclockwise and motor 103, operated by pushbutton control 104,drives shaft 14 clockwise. Hand crank 24 is selectively operable throughtransfer means or clutch 25 to drive twin ratchet unit 105. The drivingoutput of unit is determined by the direction of rotation of crank 24,so that with clutch 25 energized clockwise rotation of crank 24 rotatesshaft 14 clockwise and drives work film 15 to the right. Similarly, withclutch 25 energized counterclockwise rotation of crank 24 rotates shaft13 counterclockwise and drives work film 15 to the left.

Movement of work film 15 rotates sprocket 21 and shaft 26. Rotation ofshaft 26 mechanically drives footage counter 27, which is provided withappropriate means, actuable by button 28, to zero set counter 27 withoutrepositioning sprocket shaft 26. Register 95, having up and down countbuttons 93, 94, is used to keep track of scene numbers.

The transport means for moving camera original film 35 in eitherdirection along its feed path defined by idler rolls 36, 44, 37 andcooperating spaced apertured linear guides 38, 39 is essentially thesame as the transport means for work film 15. In particular, originalfilm 35 is moved between supply reel 41 and takeup reel 53 by motors111, 113 operated by controls 112, 114, respectively. Motor 111 iseffective to operate supply reel shaft 41a counterclockwise and takeupreel shaft 53a clockwise. Movement of film 35 rotates connectedsprockets 42 and 42a, the former being keyed to shaft 43 that drivescounter 45 having zero set 46, advance 47, and reverse 48 controls, aswell as a set of thumb wheels 99 provided to individually set each digitwheel of counter 45.

Counter 45 is also with three COUNT control selector buttons 81, 82, 83to selectively adjust the driving ratio between sprocket shaft 43 andcounter 45 in accordance with the edge code on original film 35. Thatis, the edge number codes are not the same for all film. The most commoncodes have indications spaced by 16, 20 or 40 frames. By operating theappropriate count selector button 81-83, counter 45 will change onedigit each time the code indication changes as original film 35 movesover sprockets 42, 42a.

Hand crank 51 is selectively connectable through transfer means clutch49 to drive twin ratchet unit 115. With clutch 49 energized clockwise,rotation of crank 51 rotates shaft 53a clockwise to draw film 35 to theright, and counterclockwise rotation of crank 51 rotates shaft 41acounterclockwise to draw film 35 to the left. Clutch 49 selectivelyconnects shaft 43 to shaft 26, so that films l and 35 may be moved inunison.

Film cutter 52, located between linear guide 38, 39 and idler 37, isselectively operable, but only after actuation of a safety interlock, tosever original film strip 35. The lead end of the original film 35,after cutting thereof, is guided manually or guided automatically by apower repositionable guide groove (not shown) to one side or the otherof idler roll 37. When guided below idler roll 37, film 35 is directedto takeup reel 53, and when directed above idler 37 film 35 is directedto lower compartment 54 of circular holding container 55 (FIGS. 5 and6).

Opaque or black leader film strip 50 is withdrawn from supply reel 56below idler roll 57, over transport means drive sprocket 58, below idlerroll 59, between the sections of film cutter 61, to upper compartment 62of holding container 55. Sprocket shaft 63 drives frame counter 120having drive ratio adjusting controls 121 and 122. Shaft 63 isselectively connected by clutch 64 to hand crank 65 and sprocket shaft43. For reasons to be hereinafter seen, black leader supply reel 56 islocated in a plane below that containing film supply reels 1] and 41.

The portion of work film aligned with the apertured portion of linearguide 18, 19 appears as a magnified image at viewing station 66 (FIG. 2)by virtue of that portion of the illumination and lens system of FIG. 3consisting of lamp 67, parallel mirrors 68, 69, and magnifying lens 70.Similarly, the portion of original film 35 aligned with the aperture oflinear guide 38, 39 is projected to and is magnified at viewing station66 by virtue of lamp 71, parallel mirrors 72, 73, and magnifying lens74.

Holding container 55 (FIGS. 5 and 6) is supported and held in positionon the upper surface of magnetic chuck 76, so as to remain stationary asportions of original film 35 and black leader 50 are fed therein. Inparticular, holding container 55 consists of a short cylindrical body77, divided by central disc partition 78 into lower 54 and upper 62compartments closed by removable disc-like covers 79, 80. The upper andlower surfaces of partition 78 are provided with spiral grooves 81 thatare aligned with identical spiral groove 82 in the inner surfaces ofcovers 79, 80. The side wall of container 55 is provided with slits 83,84, located at the outer ends of spiral grooves 81, 82.

Original film strip 35, entering lower compartment 54 through slit 83,is guided toward the center of container 55 along a spiral path definedby grooves 81, 82, and in this manner the layers or coils of film 35 incompartment 54 do not rub against one another nor do they contact oneanother, so that original camera film 35 will not be scratched.Similarly, black leader 50 enters upper compartment 62 through slit 84and travels a spiral path, with the turns of the spiral being spacedfrom one another.

Original film 35 (FIG. 4) is an elongated strip having evenly spacedsprocket holes 22a, 22b, etc. close to film edge 35a. The spaces betweenadjacent sprocket holes 22a, 22b, etc. is

.the space between frames of picture information recorded in tandem onfilm 35. The top and bottom frame boundaries are indicated by transverselines 86.

For 16 mm film having different indicia groupings each foot, the code J1/24 00016 printed in the film margin between sprocket holes 22a, 22b,etc. and film edge 35a identifies the film roll and the locationthereon. That is, the first code portion .Il/24, being different foreach film roll, identifies the particular roll, and 000l6 indicates thatsprocket hole 22b is 16 times the number of frames between edge numbersfrom the lead end of this film strip. The number 00016 is set on counter45 for original film 35, and thereafter counter 45 gives an instantreadout at all locations of film .I l /24.

Using the apparatus of the instant invention, film matching takes placein the following manner. Edited work film 15 is run from reel 11 to reel12 by activating motor drive 103, and during this operation the operatorviews the magnified image of film 15 at viewing station 66. For thebeginning and end of each scene the operator notes the scene number, theidentifying indicia of work film 15, and the corresponding reading oncounter 27, with the latter having been set initially to a zero positionto correspond to the lead edge of work film 15.

These notes concerning scene numbers, counter readings, and originalfilm roll identification are sorted and arranged so that all scenesappearing on a particular original film, say film 35, are arranged innumerical edge code markings. Original film 35 is positioned so that theindication on counter 45 corresponds to the actual location on originalfilm 35. Work film 15 is then positioned so that the beginning of thefirst scene taken from film roll J1/24 appears at viewing station 66.Original film 35 is advanced until edge number counter 45 indicates thelocating code number (00016) appearing on the portion of work film 15 atviewing station 66. When this occurs, the left portion of work film 15viewed at station 66 corresponds to the portion of original film atviewing station 66.

Clutch 49 is then operated to couple sprocket shafts 26 and 43. Clutch25 is energized and crank 24 is operated to position the lead edge ofthe selected frame in alignment with dash line 88 at viewing station 66.This positions cutter 52 exactly onehalf frame in advance of the leadedge of the selected scene. In the usual situation a half frame issufficient for splicing.

Cutter 52 is then operated to sever original film strip 35, and clutch64 is operated to disconnect crank 65 and couple sprocket shafts 43 and63. Then crank 24 is operated to move all three film strips 15, 35 and50 to the right with respect to FIG. 1, with the lead end of theselected scene from original film 35 being guided above idler roll 37and inserted manually or by a guide groove into slot 83 of holdingcontainer 55. At this time, the lead end of black leader 50 is insertedthrough container slot 84. Crank 24 is operated until the end of theselected scene is aligned with dashed line 89 at viewing station 66. Inthis position of film 35, cutter 52 is one-half frame beyond or to theleft of the end of the selected scene. In the usual situation, alignedcutters 52 and 61 are then operated to sever both original film 35 andblack leader 50 to the same lengths. It is noted that for some types ofsplicing apparatus two additional frames of black leader are required.This added length is meadured by referring to counter and is fed bycrank 65, while shafts 43 and 63 are decoupled. The trailing edges offilms 35 and 50 are then manually forced into holding container 55.Container 55 is removed from chuck 76, is marked with the number of theparticular scene represented by the portion of original film in thisparticular holding container 55, and is stored.

Clutches 64 and 49 are then operated to decouple sprocket shafts 26, 43and 63 from one another, and work film 15 is advanced until the leadingedge of the next scene to be taken from original film roll Jl/24 isaligned with dashed line 88. Then the steps previously recited arerepeated.

The portion of original film 35 which tails a selected portion thereofis tapered or spliced to the trailing end of the film on takeup reel 53.This joining or splicing of film may be done manually,semi-automatically, or automatically, using apparatus of the typeillustrated in FIGS. 7-9, to be hereinafter described, and, locatedbetween sprocket 42a and reel 53.

After all of the scenes or original film roll J 1/24 that appear inedited work film have been severed and placed in individual holdingcontainers 55, a new roll of original film is mounted on shaft 41a andis connected to sprockets 42 and 42a.

While a film strip for a scene has been described as being held in anindividual container 55, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that very short scenes need not be placed in a container, but may beidentified and stored as unwound strips, in accordance with the presentfilm matching techniques. Also, very long scenes may be placed on asocalled core.

After all desired original film strip sections have been cut, a personskilled in film splicing may prepare the so-called A and B rolls, withthe A roll having odd numbered scenes separated by black leader stripscorresponding in length to lengths of original film having theeven-numbered scenes, and the B roll consisting of even-numbered scenesof original film separated by odd numbered lengths of black leader. Itis noted that for some special effects, such as dissolves, the blackleader segment is not equal to the length of the corresponding scenesegment.

Now referring more particularly to FIGS. 7-9 which show automaticsplicing apparatus that may be incorporated in the apparatus of FIG. 1to join together those portions of original film 35 that are stored onreel 53. It is not uncommon that portions of original film 35 that arediscarded initially may be utilized at a later time. The search throughthe originally discarded film is facilitated if the sections thereof arejoined with the sprocket holes thereof properly spaced so as not tointerfere with the functioning of sprocket wheels 41 and 53.

In particular, the automatic splicing apparatus of FIGS. 7-9 includestable 200 having slot 202 through which knife 202 is movable to cut film35. Knife 202 is pivoted at 203 and is operated clockwise with respectto FIG. 8 in a cutting direction by plunger 204 of a solenoid (notshown) which is selectively actuated by the operator. As blade 202 movesclockwise in a cutting stroke, backup block 205 moves into engagementwith the rear of film 35 for support thereof while cutting takes place,with film 35 stopped. Protrusions 206, 207 of block 205 enter sprocketholes along the upper edge of film 35 to stabilize the latter againstlongitudinal movement during the cutting operation.

The lower edge of film 35 travels in narrow guide grooves in the uppersurface of table 201. Immediately to the right of sprocket 42a in FIG. 7is stationary guide groove section 211, which leads to the input end ofmovable groove section 212. The latter is formed in a section of table211 that is pivoted at 213, so that groove section 212 is selectivelypositionable in the lower position shown in the solid line of FIG. 7 orin the raised position shown in phantom. In its lower position, movablegroove 212 is aligned with stationary groove section 214, leading totakeup reel 53, and in the upper position thereof movable groove section212 is aligned with stationary groove section 215 leading to holding canor container 55.

Splicing tape strip 220 is provided with a pressure actuated adhesivecoating the surface thereof, confronting the front surface of film 35.Tape 220 extends from supply reel 221 to take-up reel 222, and isoperated in steps coordinated with the operation of cutter-ram assembly225. The latter includes tubular cutter 226, having a rectangularcross-section, and hollow ram 227 closely fitted in the interior ofcutter 226. Spring 228 (FIG. 8) operatively connects cutter 226 to ram227, so that these two elements initially move in unison as a drivingforce, acting upwardly with respect to FIGS. 7 and 8, is applied to ram227. After cutter 226 pierces tape strip 220 to remove splicing path 230therefrom, transverse projection 231, extending from the exterior ofcutter 226, engages table stop 232 to arrest movement of cutter 226while ram 227 continues moving upwardly with respect to FIGS. 7 and 8,driving tape patch 230 into engagement with original film sections 35:,35t at the butt-joint between these film sections. At this time block205 is in engagement with the rear surfaces of film sections 35t, 35:,and projections 206, 207 extend through sprocket holes 236, 237 toassure that these sprocket holes are properly spaced from one another.

While ram-cutter 225 moves upwardly (with respect to FIGS. 7 and 8) inits operating stroke, a low level vacuum is drawn at the interior of ram227 with such vacuum acting through end apertures 239 in ram 227 to holdsplicing piece 230 thereagainst as piece 230 travels from tape strip 200to placement against film strip portions 35!, 351'. The aforesaid vacuumis released immediately prior to retraction of ram 227. Tape strip 220moves one step to the right with respect to FIGS. 7 and 11 each timecutterram 225 is operated through a complete cycle and while cutter-ram225 is in its fully retracted position, shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

Operation of the apparatus of FIGS. 7 and 8 takes place in the followingmanner, keeping in mind that all cutting and splicing operations takeplace while movable guide groove 212 is in its lower position, shown inFIG. 7. Consider that a desired section of film is being fed to holdingcan 55, under these circumstances movable guide groove 212 is in itsraised position of FIG. 7. When movement of the film strip is halted,movable guide groove 212 is operated downward to the solid line positionof FIG. 7 and a control (not shown) is actuated to effect a cuttingoperation, during which knife 202 is pivoted clockwise with respect toFIG. 8 and block 205 is moved to a supporting position at the rear offilm 35. At the conclusion of the cutting operation, block 205 isretracted and knife 202 is retracted to a position below table 201.

If the film portion at the left of the cut is to be used to make up thefinal film, movable groove 212 is moved to its raised or phantompositionsof FIG. 7, wherein this film is guided into stationary groovesection 215 to a holding container 55.

If a splicing operation is to take place, movable groove section 212remains in its lowered or solid line position of FIG. 7 and cutter-ram225 is moved from its lowered position of FIG. 7 forward toward movablegroove section 212. Simultaneously, backup block 205 moves in theopposite direction into engagement with the film sections in movablegroove 212. As ram-cutter 225 engages and passes through tape 220,cutter 226 cuts rectangular splicing piece 230 from tape 220, leaving aseries of windows 249, 249, etc. in the portion of tape 220 that iswound on takeup reel 222. When projections 231, 232 engage, forwardmovement of cutter 226 is arrested. However, ram 227 continues to moveforward, and the vacuum drawn therein holds splicing piece 230 to theforward tip of ram 227 from the time splicing piece 230 is formed untilit is applied to original film portion 35:, 351 (FIG. 10). Before ram227 is moved rearward to its inactive position, the vacuum therein isreleased, so that the film is not dragged from the guide groove 212-214.

It should now be apparent that the apparatus hereinbefore describedreduces the time for film matching, in that counters 27, 45 permit rapidfilm movement to selected positions without the necessity of attemptingto review and identify scenes on fast moving film. Time is also saved bycutting the black leader strips to required length at the same time thatscenes are cut from the original film. The enlargement of theidentifying indicia of the film reduces the possibility of error, andthe utilization of the spiral groove holding container substantiallyreduces the likelihood of film damage.

While my invention has hereinbefore been described in connection withthe manual recording of coded identifying indicia and the manualcharting thereof in a usable sequence, it should now be apparent tothose skilled in the art that locating scene information contained inthe indicating code indicia along the film margin together with scenenumbers and work film footage information may be fed to a computer thatoperates to arrange this information in useful form and is coupled tocounters connected to the film advance mechanism to move the variousfilm strips automatically or on command. Feeding of such information toa computer may be accomplished by direct reading devices which scan theindicating indicia, or by having the film matcher operate a keyboard.

Further, while this invention has been described in connection with asingle size of film, it should now be apparent that adjustable and/orinterchangeable elements may be used to readily set up for handling manydifferent sizes of film, and film having sprocket holes along bothedges. In addition, a supply of white leader film may be providedtogether with the necessary transport and control elements thereforconnected for cooperation with the elements illustrated and hereinbeforedescribed.

Although there have been described preferred embodiments of this novelinvention, many variations and modifications will now be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, this invention is to be limited notby the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appending claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive privilege orproperty is claimed are defined as follows.

1. Apparatus for matching sections of an original film with scenes of anedited work film, said apparatus including first transport means formoving the work film through a viewing station, first readout means toindicate the location on the work film that is at the viewing station,second transport means for moving the original film through said viewingstation, second readout means to indicate thelocation on the originalfilm that is at the viewing station, transfer means selectively operablebetween a first and a second position, said transfer means when in saidfirst position enabling said first and second transport means to beoperated independently of one another, said transfer means when in saidsecond position coupling said first and second transport means forsimultaneous coordinated operation during which equal lengths of saidfilms move through said viewing station, and a cutting station throughwhich the original film is moved by the second transport means, cuttermeans at said cutting station selectively operable to cut selectedsections from the original films.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, also including viewing means atsaid viewing station to facilitate readingof code and locating indiciaalong the edges of said films.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, also including a supply of blackleader film, third transport means for moving black leader film fromsaid supply and through said cutter means, another transfer meansselectively operable between a first and a second position, said anothertransfer means when in its said first position coupling said second andthird transport means for simultaneous coordinated operation duringwhich substantially equal lengths of the original and black leader filmsare moved through said cutting station, said third transport means beingdecoupled from said second transport means when said another transfermeans is in its said second position, said cutter means when operated tocut a selected section from the original film simultaneously cutting asubstantially equal length section from the black leader film.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3, also including a storage unitlocated downstream of said cutting station to receive a selected sectioncut from the original film and a section of substantially equal lengthcut from the black leader film.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, also including auto- 1 maticsplicing means for connecting unselected portions of original film endto end to form a composite film.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5, in which the automatic splicingmeans includes an aligning means to establish sprocket hole spacingprior to application of a splicing tape piece by the splicing means.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which there is a count selectormeans selectively operable to calibrate the second readout means toproduce an output related directly to edge numbers on the original film.

1. Apparatus for matching sections of an original film with scenes of anedited work film, said apparatus including first transport means formoving the work film through a viewing station, first readout means toindicate the location on the work film that is at the viewing station,second transport means for moving the original film through said viewingstation, second readout means to indicate the location on the originalfilm that is at the viewing station, transfer means selectively operablebetween a first and a second position, said transfer means when in saidfirst position enabling said first and second transport means to beoperated independently of one another, said transfer means when in saidsecond position coupling said first and second transport means forsimultaneous coordinated operation during which equal lengths of saidfilms move through said viewing station, and a cutting station throughwhich the original film is moved by the second transport means, cuttermeans at said cutting station selectively operable to cut selectedsections from the original films.
 2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1,also including viewing means at said viewing station to facilitatereading of code and locating indicia along the edges of said films. 3.Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, also including a supply of blackleader film, third transport means for moving black leader film fromsaid supply and through said cutter means, another transfer meansselectively operable between a first and a second position, said anothertransfer means when in its said first position coupling said second andthird transport means for simultaneous coordinated operation duringwhich substantially equal lengths of the original and black leader filmsare moved through said cutting station, said third transport means beingdecoupled from said second transport means when said another transfermeans is in its said second position, said cutter means when operated tocut a selected section from the original film simultaneously cutting asubstantially equal length section from the black leader film. 4.Apparatus as set forth in claim 3, also including a storage unit locateddownstream of said cutting station to receive a selected section cutfrom the original film and a section of substantially equal length cutfrom the black leader film.
 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, alsoincluding automatic splicing means for connecting unselected portions oforiginal film end to end to form a composite film.
 6. Apparatus as setforth in claim 5, in which the automatic splicing means includes analigning means to establish sprocket hole spacing prior to applicationof a splicing tape piece by the splicing means.
 7. Apparatus as setforth in claim 1, in which there is a count selector means selectivelyoperable to calibrate the second readout means to produce an outputrelated directly to edge numbers on the original film.